National Aeronautics and Space Administration
AIM For The Clouds
AIM is a two-year mission to study Polar Mesospheric Clouds
(PMCs), the Earth’s highest clouds, which form an icy mem-
brane 50 miles (80.4 km) above the surface at the edge of
space.
These clouds, which are visible from the ground with the
naked eye, form in the late spring and summer at high
latitudes and have been seen for over a century, reflecting
the Sun’s light in the twilight sky. While one and the same
phenomenon, they are called Noctilucent Clouds (NLCs) when
observed from the ground at twilight and PMCs when viewed
from space platforms with instruments that can sense their
presence at any time of the night or day. Previous satellites
have inferred the presence of PMCs but were not designed to
determine their properties.
The PMCs, believed to be made of frozen ice crystals,
form in the summer polar region in the coldest place in the
atmosphere 50 miles (80.4 km) above the Earth’s surface.
Noctilucent Clouds were first observed in 1885 by an amateur
astronomer and have been becoming brighter, more frequent
and appear to be moving to lower latitudes in recent years.
The primary goal of the AIM mission is to explain why PMCs
form in the first place and what is causing the mysterious
changes in their behavior.
The AIM satellite carries three state-of-the-art instruments:
Cloud Imaging and Particle Size (CIPS), Solar Occultation
For Ice Experiment (SOFIE) and the Cosmic Dust Experiment
(CDE). Each will take precise measurements of NLCs and
related parameters in the Earth’s upper atmosphere.
CIPS has four cameras positioned at different angles, allowing
scientists a 2-D look at the clouds as the satellite passes and
looks back at them. Multiple views of the clouds from different
angles allow a determination of the sizes of the ice particles
that make up the cloud. The cameras will provide panoramic
PMC images of the polar cap daily.
SOFIE will use solar occultation to measure cloud particles,
temperature and atmospheric gases involved in forming the
clouds. The instrument observes chemicals that are involved
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NASAfacts
in PMC formation. It will provide the most accurate and
comprehensive simultaneous look to date of ice particles and
chemicals within the clouds as well as of the environment in
which the clouds form.
CDE records the amount of space dust that enters the atmo-
sphere from the cosmos. It will allow scientists to determine
the role the particles have in PMC formation.
By observing the PMCs, chemicals and small dust particles for
at least two years, the AIM mission is designed to answer the
most important questions about the origin of these mysterious
clouds.
AIM is 55 inches tall and 43 inches wide and weighs 430
pounds. Once in orbit, solar arrays will deploy to power the
satellite. The satellite will be launched from Vandenberg Air
Force Base, Calif., on a Pegasus-XL launch vehicle to its orbit
373 miles (600 km) above Earth.
AIM is a NASA-funded SMall EXplorers (SMEX) mission
managed by the Explorers Program Office at Goddard Space
Flight Center, Md. The mission is led by the Principal Investi-
gator from the Center for Atmospheric Sciences at Hampton
University in Va. The Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space
Physics (LASP), University of Colorado – Boulder, is building
the CIPS and CDE instruments. LASP also provides technical
management for the AIM mission and will control the satellite
after launch. The Space Dynamics Laboratory, Utah State
University, is building the SOFIE instrument. Other research
institutions involved include Virginia Polytechnic Institute and
State University, Blacksburg, Va; University of Colorado-Boul-
der, Boulder, Colo.; Utah State University, North Logan, Utah;
Gats, Inc., Newport News, Va; the Naval Research Labora-
tory, Wash, DC; George Mason University, Fairfax, Va.; and
the British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge UK. Orbital Sciences
Corporation, Dulles, Va, designed, manufactured and tested
the AIM spacecraft. Orbital will also provide the Pegasus
launch vehicle.
For additional information, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/aim
http://aim.hamptonu.edu/
www.nasa.gov